Aunt Susan’s All Day Stew

TICauntsusansroast

We all know red meat isn’t good for us so you won’t find many meat recipes on this blog. If you need to have red meat why fool around? Go grill yourself a steak or go out for a hamburger. (In one of her wonderful Home Cooking books, Laurie Colwin said never cook hamburgers at home, always go out for them.).

But here’s an exception, a stew that cooks all day in a slow cooker, (previously known as a crock pot.) The reason it’s included is that it’s so easy, so awesomely simple, both to prepare and to serve that this is what you want to fix for your friends if you’re snowed in or up in the mountains going skiing or hiking all day. You come back home to a cabin that smells like your mother has been cooking for you all day. Serve it with mashed or baked potatoes or my old standby, French bread. A little horseradish is good with it too.

Aunt Susan who came up with this recipe lived next door when my first husband and I came to California. She was a fantastic cook. My family still talks about her Six Layer Heath Bar and Whipped Cream Angel Food Cake – (much too complicated for this blog.) Here’s her stew:

 

TICcrockpot

1 chuck steak (2-3 pounds)

14 1/2 oz. can of seasoned tomatoes

3.8 oz. can of sliced black olives

12 oz. frozen green beans (I like the skinny ones)

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 cup of red wine

1 bay leaf

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a skillet and when hot add minced garlic and sliced onion to brown. Add meat and brown. Place the meat in the cooker with onions, add tomatoes, green beans, olives, a bay leaf and the wine, cover and turn on High. When it begins to bubble around the edges, turn down to Low and cook for five or so hours. (I cooked a 2.3 lb. chuck steak in the above pictures and needed to cut it in half to fit in my slow cooker.) Serves six.

ticsnowedin

 

  2 comments for “Aunt Susan’s All Day Stew

  1. Your Ex
    December 20, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    T’would seem easier to wed a spouse who loves to cook!

    • Barbara
      December 21, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      Dear Ex
      True! But I keep falling for guys who can’t cook.

Leave a Reply to Barbara Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *